Gwen Tennyson
Gwendolyn Tennyson, known simply as Gwen, is Ben's cousin and a secondary protagonist in each series. Gwen was first introduced in And Then There Were 10, when her parents send her on a summer-long trip with her Grandpa Max and her cousin Ben. Like Ben, she is a Human/Anodite hybrid, but unlike her father, uncle, brother or cousin, she has, as her Grandmother refers to it, "the spark." Ben 10 In the original series, Gwen uses her laptop to research any strange people and creatures they might come across. She is a capable gymnast and has had some training in martial arts. In Ben 10,000 her alternate future self says she got her black belt years ago (probably referring to Alien Force) and it's come in handy many times. She has also shown an almost innate skill in using various complicated devices or objects, such as in the "What If?" episode Gwen 10, when Gwen gained the Omnitrix instead of Ben and proved to be far more adept in its use than he initially was, even being able to write her name with fire while Ben took a month to be able to do it (although she may be able to use it better because of her magical and Anodite powers because manipulating energy is natural for her). She is depicted as snobbish due to her young girl attitude. Overall, her most notable skill is her innate, if latent, ability at magic. Having within her what Charmcaster calls a "magical aura", Gwen is capable of using various magical artifacts, charms, talismans and spells. When using the magical, luck-giving Charm of Bezel, she was able to activate it instinctively, whereas Hex did or could not. Later on, when she takes and uses his staff, she was able to make it fire a yellow-colored energy blast (according to Charmcaster), only someone of Hex's skill should have that ability. Gwen starts tapping into her magical powers when she procures a small book of spells from Charmcaster in the episode A Change of Face. On two occasions, Gwen uses the Charms of Bezel's incredible and unique powers and abilities to become a superhero by the name of "Lucky Girl". At first, her ability drew from the luck-granting, Charms of Bezel, which innately gave her perfect luck and the abilities and powers of probability manipulation. While wearing the charm, any action she took would result in a Rube Goldberg-style chain reaction benefiting her original intent, but usually injuring Ben in the process. She later brought back her superhero identity after obtaining the legendary Keystone of Bezel, which greatly strengthened and increased her natural abilities to super human levels rather than just affecting her luck. Both times, Gwen was forced to retire when the Charms of Bezel were destroyed. Gwen is shown to have two swimsuits; one which appeared in, "Divided We Stand", and the other appeared in "A Small Problem. Ben 10 Alien Force In the sequel series, Ben 10: Alien Force, fifteen-year-old Gwen has grown into a calm, confident, and collective teenager, and she and Ben get along much better and are no longer openly hostile towards one another (most of the time). In this series during seasons 1-2, Gwen wears a plain, white shirt, loosely buttoned blue sweater, a black skirt with black tights, her hair is much longer and darker and her eyes are much darker as well. Gwen is now a black belt (taking classes in Tae Kwon Do, according to dialogue in Simple), but tends to favor using her powers. She is able to create energy constructs for nearly any purpose, usually creating platforms to levitate herself (and others), beams to grab enemies, circular blasts to knock enemies back, projecting beams from her eyes that seem to simulate heat vision, and opening up interdimensional portals. In Ben 10,000, her future self is able to create time portals. She also has a wide range of other loosely defined supernatural abilities, such as dowsing, limited telepathy, and clairvoyance. In the episode Everybody Talks About the Weather, Kevin says she gets her powers from her alien bloodline, but she refuses to believe him. Little does she know that she would realize he was right in What Are Little Girls Made Of? Her powers are revealed to be alien in origin; her grandmother, Verdona, is an energy being known as an Anodite and surprisingly she is the only descendant of hers who inherited Verdona's powers. Verdona tells Gwen that what she and others originally thought of as "magic" was actually the manipulation of mana, a substance of magic - making Anodites a magic-wielding race. Verdona offers to take Gwen to her home planet and train her in the mystical ways of the Anodites, but Gwen prefers to remain on Earth with Ben and Kevin. She hates being called an "energy being", referring to her Anodite heritage. In the episode, In Charm's Way, it's implied that highly gifted humans like Charmcaster can also be trained to utilize mana. In episode eleven of the second season, Unearthed, an alien creature is able to see her as an Anodite, in which she looks exactly like her grandmother's true form, but slightly shorter. In the two-part season two finale War of the Worlds when Kevin was threatened by a Highbreed commander, she assumes her dormant Anodite form for the first time and easily defeats the commander with an exceedingly strong powerful burst of pure pink glowing energy. She was almost overwhelmed by her own power before Kevin snaps her out of it. Gwen in Season 3 of Alien Force, during the course of the series she has developed a romantic relationship with Kevin. They have also been shown to have arguments, usually starting with Gwen always trying to force Kevin to "Ask her out." and him always answering "Don't push me." In the episode Fool's Gold, Kevin appears to be avoiding her because he is ashamed of his recent mutation due to accidentally absorbing a massive feedback pulse as a result of trying to hack the Omnitrix. She was unaffected by the blast because she put an energy shield around herself. Kevin gives her a locket of the two of them when he was in his human form, asking her to remember him as he was. Gwen says she doesn't care what he looks like, and he replies "But I do". In the two part season three premiere, Vengeance of Vilgax, Ben and Gwen seem to have revived their infamous rivalry from the original series, in part due to Ben's cockiness and inflated ego. In the same episode, Gwen pours a smoothie over Ben's head, and he nearly returns the favor. Despite their rivalry, they both still have a strong bond, visible in the episode In Charm's Way, when Ben defends Gwen and informs Kevin that she has been spending all of her spare time in order to find a cure for Kevin's condition. It is shown in both Vengeance of Vilgax: Part 2 and Inferno, respectively, that Gwen suffers from both. arachnophobia and claustrophobia. Unlike the original series, Gwen has worn other costumes besides her usual clothing. In the episode Time Heals, it was revealed that Gwen kept her Lucky Girl costume. In What Are Little Girls Made Of? Gwen is shown to have a white bikini. In Charm's Way, she has a black bikini. In The Con of Rath, she is shown wearing another one piece black bikini, pink flip flops, a hat, sunglasses, and a pink towel skirt. She also has a karate suit. In Save the Last Dance, Gwen was seen wearing a formal outfit (a white strapless prom dress).She has kept and worn her Lucky Girl costume, which is now bigger with Gwen being fifteen. Ben 10:Ultimate Alien n the sequel that takes place a few weeks later, Gwen is now sixteen years old (or 17 years old in alternate). Her wardrobe has altered once again, wearing a combination of her outfits from Alien Force. She wears her old outfit from the first two seasons of Alien Force, but instead of a plain dark blue shirt it is now dark red and she also keeps her high ponytail from the third season. In Hit 'Em Where They Live, Zombozo and other villains teamed up to take revenge on the Tennysons and company, and kidnapped Ben's mom Sandra. Enraged, Gwen released her dormant, inner anodite for the second time since, War of the Worlds:Part 2. Whilst Zombozo trembled with fear, Gwen began to grow to a huge height, promising that if one of his teammates (and other notable villains) even bumps into a their families on the street, she would come for them. Petrified,Zombozo screamed off-screen and Gwen saved Sandra. When Kevin asked what happened to Zombozo she simply replied "We came to an understanding" whilst smiling. In Video Games, she tries out for her driver's license, earning it in the end. In the early episodes of the series, Gwen and Kevin seem to be bickering constantly. Gwen's magenta-violet-purple shields look less see through and have a different design than in Ben 10: Alien Force''. Perhaps the color intensifies to much brighter shades of pink, magenta, and fuchsia as she grows stronger and more powerful, (evident in latter episodes where she demonstrates her advanced powers and abilities.)'' In the episode Hero Time, it is shown that Gwen gets very jealous when Jennifer Nocturne starts flirting with Kevin after he saved her life. And Kevin doesn't seem to mind. Kevin also protected Jennifer a lot, over the course of the episode. For example; When Overlord shot an energy blast at them Kevin put his arms around Jennifer to protect her from the energy beam, even though Gwen put up a magenta-pink shield around them. Gwen eventually lost her temper and threatened Jennifer that she would, "peel her like a grape" if she made another move on Kevin.